JEDPL Reviews: Eureka Seven
If there happens to be one sort of anime that made mecha partially into what it is today, then it would have to the particular type known as "robot anime". Quite frankly, it is one of the oldest genres in Japanese animation, and with 28-go Tetsujin 28-go, this fact shows, as the series started as a manga WAY back in 1956. The genre in itself, though, wasn't very established until Mazinger Z, which made its way into existence nearly sixteen years later. I really can't share any other early history regarding the genre, though, since that's just who I am; I just don't wanna have to waste anyone's precious time on hammering in information I just got from Wikipedia, an illegitimate source! Much of the robot anime that made themselves known can appeal to a certain audience, depending on the content of the series, which ranges from a shitload of children's shows to franchises that were intended for a vastly mature group of people. Of course! If you must know, some mecha are enabled to transform and even combine in order to make a larger unit (the memetic (Gurren Lagann) comes to mind!). Lastly, not ALL of the mecha are required to be mechanical beings! Some of them can have biological components for the pilot to interface with (whatever the hell that's really supposed to mean), and others are quite organic themselves; two notable examples are the controversial Neon Genesis Evangelion ''and also ''Zoids. Speaking of which, isn't there a review I need to work on? I dunno, maybe a specific review about an anime that recently finished its run on a certain Adult Swim block??? ..... Okay, then. How, how, how, children of the ever-so-obscure Animapredictview Wiki!? Ladies and gentlemen, I am the head honcho around this site, its founder; the Extreme Conqueror Ouroburos. You'll start to love me when I review an anime so emotional you wanna pull out your own heartstrings. Honestly, I found it to be one of the most inspirational titles upon having finished watching the series as a whole! People like you might start rolling your eyeballs and command me to review Dragon Ball Z, but... But... IT'S NOT F***ING TIME YET!!!! I NEED TO DEVELOP MY STYLE IN HANDLING REVIEWS FIRST, GODDAMNIT!!!!!! {ahem} So what other series would be better to review on this Friday than something that really, REALLY knows how to relate to a viewer such as myself? Casshern Sins, you say?! HAAAAAAAAAAhahahahaha, no. As depressing and compelling as that reboot was, the only thing that CS had going for it was the former... and that stylish art style... and the Sun named Moon... and---- OH, LORD ALMIGHTY CHRIST, THAT'S JUST IT!! With a grand total of 50 episodes, an ingenious story written by Dai Satou ("Mr. Vice President of Cowboy Bebop, motherf***er!"), this is Eureka Seven. A nigh-three-parter! Eureka Seven, which was originally known as ''Psalms of Planets Eureka SeveN ''in Japan (uh huh, I'm pretty sure the capitalized 'n' in the word "seven" was intentional), is a Japanese robot anime series made by BONES. The fifty-episode series aired from April 17, 2005 to April 2, 2006; you know if it began on April 17 and ended on April 17 the following year, that would've been one. ONE year. Ah... ah... ah! Anyhoo, distribution of Eureka Seven ''did not come to be until Bandai Entertainment (remember them? They had a huge downfall almost two years ago because of some stupid shit you'd have to be willing to read on TV Tropes) and its affiliates picked it up. I also mentioned a while back on this review that the show recently finished its run on Toonami, although before, ''ES used to air on Adult Swim itself from April 15, 2006 to April 28, 2007! WOW!!! Thirteen more days and that could've been another year apa---- {smack} Never mind, never mind, never mind! The story of the series mainly revolves around one Renton Thurston, a 14-year-old ordinary brat who is the son of long-dead father Adrock Thurston, who I swear to God was named after THE '''Ad-Rock from Beastie Boys. Actually, come to think of it, all of the episode titles for the series are references to songs written by Japanese or any other artists! Some of then are blatantly obvious, like "Blue Monday" by New Order, "Ill Communication" by the '''Beastie Boys themselves, and even "Helter Skelter" by The Beatles (Yellow Submarine ''was sure one big LSD trip, wasn't it?)... As for the rest of them? Well, I sure as Hell have never heard of any of those songs or albums before, although I definitely bet they sound better than what you hear on the radio these days! A-hyuck, a-hyuck, a-hyuck!! Moving on, since I TOTALLY got sidetracked... Anyways, Renton pretty much lives a boring-ass life in Bellforest with his grandfather Axel Thurston. I'm not kidding when I say that the only thing that really keeps our hero going is, well, the sport of lifting; if you wanna know what lifting is, then---- NO, IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH P90X, DAMN YOU!!!!! Lifting is much like actual surfing, except with trapar, which is a substance that is quite abundant up in the skies, similar to how drugs and prostitutes are easy to come by when venturing alleys. Now take a potato chip and eat it, Kelly Slater, you dried-up motherf***er! {ahem} Sorry about that. The main character has always had this obsession with joining the ever so rebellious Gekkostate, led by legendary lifter and Jerkass Man Child Holland Novak (well... he is THIS at first), and the opportunity comes. In fact, it literally falls into Renton's lap one day when a large robot known as the Nirvash typeZero crashes down with its enigmatic pilot, Eureka, who just so happens to be a member of the Gekkostate herself. And after all of that, Renton boards the Gekko, being oblivious to the fact that the life of the members of Gekkostate is not just depressing... but--- OH, GOD, NO SPOILERS!!!! MENTIONING ONE, TEENSY THING THAT HAPPENS LATER IN THE PLOT IS BOUND TO CAUSE MICHAEL BAY'S EXPLOSIONS!!!! There are various themes that ''Eureka Seven ''attempt to add into the story itself, and for the most part, it works pretty damn well! For instance, the interspecies romance between Renton (a human) and Eureka (a Coralian) plays a GIGANTIC part; so much that they ain't your usual clichéd couple at all. It seems more refreshing than just THAT! As a matter of fact, there's SO many elements in the anime in that viewers have already realized that, at this point, it's a coming-of-age story... and a very mature one. Hell, real world conflicts and wars and religious tolerance plays a vital role in the plot, as well as more personal themes. While one can argue that this makes the story of ''Eureka Seven ''overindulgent and a bit of clusterf***, especially that many of the themes showcased don't even seem to be played for any true laughs that much, I... humbly think it ends up being overall successful, given the writer of the show. You can't go wrong with Dai Satou. One of the strongest aspects of ''ES ''has to be its large cast of characters, which end up being memorable at best. I personally thought that Renton made for a very likeable main hero, seeing how he goes through a shitload of development (then again, most of the series is about him and not Eureka, despite the latter's name being in the title); I loved how he was overall immature and anxious when around the female lead, but then as the series progressed, he became something WAY more than that. He was like a father figure to Eureka's "kids", and also quite the determinator. The Gekkostate and the U.F. Force are also made up of unique people, most of which you will ever love to hate OR love to.... well, love. My personal favorite has to be Anemone, just for how batshit crazy and moody she can be throughout the show. If there's one, or should I say, three characters that annoy the living hell out of me, then that's Maurice, Linck, and Maeter. Oh sure, they get better towards the end, but when they're first introduced, you wish you were their age and could hug them... to death! ''Eureka Seven ''is extremely big on terminology, although for this review, I won't even bother to mention them at all whatsoever. If you folks were expecting convoluted shit like that to pop up here, then go to some other professional review site; this is straightforward. Animation-wise, the series is full of fluidity and much, MUCH vibrance. LFOs, KLFs, and pretty much everything and everyone here are so full of expression, you really wouldn't be surprised that BONES produced ''Eureka Seven. Although I can honestly say that it's great, the visuals truly shine whenever it comes to the more action-oriented scenes. Just take Episode 20, "Substance Abuse" for example: the moment when Renton (piloting the Nirvash) destroyed about every enemy mech around him, the staff members worked real hard on capturing the tone of the scene itself, thus also having an effect on the animation; despite the actual rampage-infested scene being very terrifying. Eureka Seven's art style is also worth mentioning, in that Kenichi Yoshida tried his best to design some distinct-looking characters; lookin' at you, Dr. Bear! The soundtrack is excruciatingly powerful, even if Naoki Satou tends to be over-the-top with some of the background music. Fortunately, every piece he composed for ''ES ''fits as a whole, be it a hilarious, creepy, badass, or downright heartwarming moment. The opening themes can stick in a viewer's head for quite some time, but for me, in particular, "Shonen Heart" by Home Made Kazoku is the clear winner. The other three opening songs are catchy, but they can't hold a candle to the second opener. As for the closing sequences... Even though they try to be not out-of-place, in which case they aren't, none of the ending themes really stick out, except for "Tip Taps Tip" by Halcali, it's a rather nice and cutesy tune. Much of the voice acting is stellar, especially when one wants to assume that the voice director (Tony Oliver) attempted to make sure that the cast aimed for the correct emotions. A particular surprise is Johnny Yong Bosch as Renton Thurston, who utilizes a bit of a different voice this time around while still being recognizable. Honorable mentions include Crispin Freeman as Holland, Peter Doyle as Dominic, Stephanie Sheh as Eureka, and Jamieson Price as Master Norb. Perhaps there are at least two characters that I found to be irritating: Kari Wahlgren and Joey Camen as Anemone and Dr. Bear respectively; as much as I loved Anemone, that voice was sure to cause brain damage within the first twenty seconds. And "Bear" sure as f*** couldn't be taken seriously to begin with, even with THAT coming out of his mouth! Final verdict How does ''Eureka Seven ''hold up overall, ladies and gentlemen? The plot might be hard to comprehend on occasion (and with the mysterious presence of the Coralians, who can blame somebody for thinking that?) and the many themes that perform a part in the series can be exhausting, but this is severely (and rightfully) outweighed by the brilliant characters, ingenious writing, outstanding audio, and the mostly great animation quality. It's shit like this that makes me wanna see a future anime that comes close to the memorability level; ''Kill la Kill ''probably? Anyhoo, because I took SO damn long on wrapping up this entire review, I won't bother writing a "Pros" and "Cons" section, folks. Sorry. That is just the way I roll, and I'm f***ing sticking to it whether you Foghorn Leghorn clowns like it or not. I am Ouroburos the Extreme Conqueror, and I won't even try to make another review until November. See ya later, peace, sayonara bye-bye, catch ya on the flipside, beyotch!! Category:Review